


Faultless

by talinatera



Series: Not my fault [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Cussing, Eventual Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren, Gen, Kylux kinda, M/M, POV Multiple, Rape/Non-con Elements, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-06 07:07:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15189464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/talinatera/pseuds/talinatera
Summary: "What're you going to do when those run out?""Die." Hux said simply, keeping his emotionless mask on his face as he glanced at Ren. "For I will no longer be able to deal with your shit." He said a smirk finally pulling at the corner of his mouth. "And pray I die quickly when the last one is gone, for it is you that will get the brunt of it." He went back to looking out his window as the world sped by."And here I thought you actually cared about me.""I do, just don't confuse caring about your well being with caring about you personally."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As always I own nothing but the idea and the original characters nor do I claim to own them.
> 
> All mistakes are my own

"Hux, what a you doing?" Ren hissed as he watched Hux run away from him. "Hux!" He tried again. He couldn't be too loud for fear of drawing the zombies out to them, but he also was beginning to worry for the sanity of his partner. He cursed under his breath and started to follow after him, surprisingly light on his feet for someone of his size. "Kriffing hell Hux, when I catch up to you I'm killing you myself."

The man in question was out right ignoring the man behind him. He had seen something that had gotten his blood pumping. A deer. A deer meant fresh food, and a trip not wasted. He readied his gun, making sure the silencer was on properly before he slowed and stilled behind a tree. He could tell Ren was following but he couldn't let that distract him right now. He took a breath, fingers drumming along the handle before he flipped around the trunk and took aim at the beast.

Between one breath and the next he pulled the trigger and watched as the animal fell to its knees, before falling over dead. He gave a small sound of joy and quickly ran over to it, making sure it was dead before he thanked what ever higher power blessed them with the animal. He looked up as Ren slid down beside him grinning at what had been found.

"Next time don't hiss after me. You could have run it off." Hux snapped as soon as was beside him.

"Well maybe you should warn your partner what you're doing so they don't worry. If I had been Phasma you would have lost the deer." Ren clipped back before taking the task of picking the animal up. They'd take care of it when they made it back to camp, for right now they just needed to get back to the truck.

"Well that's why I go on these missions with you." Hux replied simply as he fell in behind Kylo.

"Just these missions? I feel I'm used for more than just that."

Hux scoffed and clicked his tongue. "If you didn't wish to be used as much as you are you shouldn't be as good as you are. Though I do go on scavenging missions with Phasma or Mitaka when I can get him out of the camp."

"You'd be better off going on your own than with Mitaka." Ren said, wrinkling his nose slightly. "He's also better suited to staying at the camp."

Hux shot Ren a small glare even if the man couldn't see it. "Mitaka is perfectly capable of handling a firearm. You do everyone a disservice to think so little of him." The taller man simply shrugged and had Hux scowling.

"I just think you're taking an unnecessary risk with your life by taking Mitaka out instead of me... Or Phasma."

"No, you just like to make sure that you're apart of everything. And weren't you just complaining that I use you too much already? You must make up your mind Ren. Is it too much or not enough?" That earned him a growl and the red head chuckled under his breath. "Then stop complaining."

The pair fell into a comfortable enough silence until they got back to the truck. It had been a year since the outbreak first started, and at this point there were more zombies than there were living it felt. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen someone that wasn't apart of their camp. They had cleared out their area pretty well of the zombies, but they always strayed in from other parts of the country. He supposed it was bound to happen being in what was the Fallen Kingdoms.

He slid in next to Ren as they came upon the truck and rolled his window down as it was started up. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it up,taking a long drag on it before slowly letting the smoke out. "What're you going to do when those run out?"

"Die." Hux said simply, keeping his emotionless mask on his face as he glanced at Ren. "For I will no longer be able to deal with your shit." He said a smirk finally pulling at the corner of his mouth. "And pray I die quickly when the last one is gone, for it is you that will get the brunt of it." He went back to looking out his window as the world sped by.

"And here I thought you actually cared about me."

"I do, just don't confuse caring about your well being with caring about you personally." He snorted and watched the tip of his cigarette smolder a moment. Sometimes Ren was still a puzzle to him. He may have been living in the FK for a while but often his States if a new republic upbringing would shine through. His focus then shifted to a wandering zombie on the side of the road and his thoughts turned dark. "Do you ever regret what we did?" He asked, suddenly very solem.

Kylo looked over surprised by the sudden change. He looked from the man to what was beyond the window and realized what was being asked, "It's not our fault, so no."

Another snort from the man was all he got in response before hefell quiet again. Of course Ren would think that way... And he was right in thinking so. He hadn't been the one to- to give the order. He took another drag and finished off the cigarette and flicked the butt out the window. "How much farther to the base?"

"About 8 kilometers."

Hux nodded his head, at their current speed of slow as hell, it would take roughly a quarter of an hour. "You know I thought you would be someone who enjoyed going fast." Hux said in an attempt to complain about their speed.

"Yeah well that was when gas wasn't a quickly fading commodity."

Hux hummed in agreement. He couldn't argue with that. They'd have been in one of the electric ones they'd gotten before all of the had happened, but the other two teams were using them, and Kylo was partial to the truck for what ever the reason. "I'm going to close my eyes, do try not to get us killed."

  
"You think this can be weaponized?" The voice came from a scientist, a man in a stark white coat, glasses covering his eyes, hiding his emotions.

"Sir anything with a little time could be weaponized. This is simply already leaning itself that way by its interesting properties."

"And... You think this was a good idea?" Hux looked up from his data pad and watched on in horror as the scientist started to mutate in front of him. His skin started to fall off in long pieces, and he grinned with a crazy glint in his eyes as a growl took ahold of his throat.

Hux took a step backwards, almost tripping over his own feet. "No- no you're fine, it'll be fine." Hux gulped and started to curl in on himself as the scientist lunged for him. He could feel the others nails clawing at his skin, could feel as he tried to pull him closer.

  
The red head was awoken to the sound of the door slamming shut and he nearly jumped out of his skin, hand diving for his gun and getting ready to shoot whatever was attacking the truck. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Kylo's grinning face could be seen on the other side of the glass and Hux cursed at him as he got out of the truck.

"Kriffing hells Ren!" He barked as he came around the back and opened the hatch for the man. "One of these days I'm going to shoot you when you do that."

"Yeah that'll be the day." Kylo sniffed and hauled the deer out. "Maybe if you weren't so jumpy it would be easier for you." Ren then headed for the supply building, where there would be people who knew how to properly tend to the deer. "I'll see you at dinner." He called over his shoulder as he disappeared around the corner.

Hux rolled his eyes and headed for the stream that served as the bathing area. He headed to the furthest point in their camp down stream so as not to taint what was used to drink. As he walked he made sure to scan the wall down there, checking that there weren't any holes or breaches. That was the last thing he needed while trying to bathe. As soon as he was satisfied the wall was fine he quickly stripped down to nothing and waded into the water, thankful to clean the dirt off his pale skin.

"What's this? Not even back five minutes and you've already made your way to the stream. I don't know if I should be disgusted or impressed by your obsession with keeping clean."

Hux whirled around, instinctively ducking further under the water at the sound of Phasma. "Blast it Phasma." He huffed and shook his head. "Between you and Kylo it's amazing I haven't ended it all yet."

"Aah trouble with the hothead again? Did he act up this last trip?"

"... No just being his normal self." He walked towards the bank, keeping to the deep bit that sat next to the bank. "Hand me a smoke?" He asked.

She dug one out and handed it over with the lighter. "You need to ration those things better. You seem to be running low." She said as he lit it up and lazily blew smoke into the sky.

"You sound like Ren." He mused.

"Oh?"

"Hmm, he asked what I was going to do when I ran out." He made sure to keep the cigarette above the water as he leaned up against the bank, allowing himself to simply bob up and down in the slow current. "Im hoping that I'll get my plants healthy enough to harvest from them before that happens." He said with a sigh.

"Well until that happens," Phasma reached into her bag and pulled out no less than three packs. "I happened to find these on my trek out today." She stuffed them into his bag. "I'm sure you can figure out a way to thank me later."

"What ever would I do without you?" Hux asked around a smirk.

"Die no doubt." She snorted and shook her head. "As soon as your done, the boss would like to see you and Ren for a report."

Hux nodded his head and finished off his cigarette. "Very well. I'll be at his place in five." The woman nodded her head and got back to her feet and headed back towards the main base without another word. Armitage finished cleaning himself then got dressed and headed for the bosses building.

On his way he bumped into a few people that needed answers for this or that and he gave them as quickly as he could, but it made him later than five minutes. He cursed under his breath as he gave a quick knock on the door before entering to already find Ren there and sitting in the couch.

"Late Armitage." A raspy voice said from the other room.

"Forgive me, I was delayed with the others needing help."

"Always with your excuses." The voice said, sounding slightly annoyed.

"I am sorry-"

"Save it boy for when I actually care." Hux stiffened but closed his mouth. "Sit beside Kylo so we may begin." The voice clipped and Hux was quick to follow the order. "Very good. Now Kylo was in the middle of giving me his report. Continue."

"There weren't any thinkers out there. It's as if they've all disappeared, or pulled back to another area. Or maybe they've been taken out. What ever happened though we have not been able to find them." He paused before adding, "we did however find a deer to resupply our food stores."

"All that hard work and still you have managed to fail." The owner of the voice finally stepped out of the dark room he tended to keep to. It was an older gentleman, that was bald and clean shaven. He held himself in a way that spoke military and his face seemed to be in a permanent scowl.

He stepped towards Kylo and took his chin in his hands and forced him to look at him. "I cannot decide if your failure time and time again is worse than Hux's one failure. True his was on a grander scale, but he has yet to do it again." Hux could see where the man dug his nails into Ren's face and it sparked anger within him and he had to keep himself from sneering.

"I think the fact that they're able to strategize like that is in of itself an accomplishment, sir." Hux spoke up quickly, taking the mans attention off of Kylo. It had the desired effect as he released Ren's face and moved to be in front of Hux. That spark of anger still clung to his being and he was positive it showed in his eyes.

"Do not think Armitage that your lack of failure in the field makes me forget your lack of success in this camp." He brought a bony finger up and slowly caressed the side of Hux's face. "Though you did bring down the deer today, so maybe I'll forget you being late." He withdrew from him and looked back at Ren. "You on the other hand-"

The feeling returned ten fold as he brought his attention back to Ren. Maybe anger wasn't the right word. "Sir if I may?" Hux didn't wait for an answer. "Ren and I are scheduled to go out again in six hours time. We're hoping a night run will yield different results. But we need to sleep and rest up from this last outing. If we have answered your questions satisfactorily I would very much like for us to grab a bite to eat."

The leader looked back at Hux knowing full well the game he was playing at, and decided to go along with it. "Very well Hux." He gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "Be gone and rest up." Hux and Ren both inclined their heads and moved for the door, but the boss grabbed Hux's arm and held him back. "Should you fail to come back with a thinker though," his breath could be felt along the back of his neck and it made him feel sick. "don't bother going anywhere else but right back here Hux."

Hux withheld a shudder from creeping down his spine and nodded his head. When his arm was released he couldn't get out of the house fast enough. He saw Ren waiting for him, his face showing confusion. "Why did you say that? You know full well we aren't scheduled." He said so only the two of the could hear as they started towards the mess hall.

"I think an evening excursion will be quite exhilarating." He said not answering the unasked question. "You cannot tell me the prospect doesn't excite you of all people Ren." He personally was not looking forward to this new task he made up, but it got them out of the camp and away from that man. More importantly it got Ren away from him. "Come along we don't have long before we have to leave again."

"I don't need you taking care of me." Ren said a little irritated. "I had things in there handled."

Hux let out a bark of laughter. "Please, you think I did this for you?" He had, but he didn't need to know that. "I did this solely for my own sanity. If he had gone on, you'd have snapped and maybe have killed him and then I'd be dealing with a power vacuum as people scrambled to take his place and eventually I'd end up dealing with an even bigger asshole. Believe me Ren, this was solely to save me a headache."

Ren didn't buy it, but it made his pride feel better and so he accepted it. "Apologies Armitage. I should have known you only looked out for number one."

He caught Ren's eyes and held them a moment, and his look turned almost serious. "Quite, and you'd do well to remember that." The way he looked, it made Ren wonder who exactly was number one.


	2. Chapter 2

Rey wrapped her arms around her as she tried to pat away the chill of the morning air. "And what are you doing up this early?" A playful voice asked from behind her. "The Suns only just started to come up, and here you are greeting it." Poe sat down next to her, letting his legs dangle over the top of the wall surrounding their camp. "Sleep alright?"

"Yeah... Well as alright I seem to be able to." She gave him a weak smile and continued to look at the forest around them. The sound of birds could be heard, greeting one another in the early morning light. No doubt enjoying the dew that still clung to the leaves before it was evaporated by the sun. "It's nice this time of day. You can almost forget that the worlds gone to shit." She mused.

"Yeah, it's one of the reasons I sign up for this watch." He looked over at her with a quirked brow. "I'd have given it to you though if I knew you liked this time too. Still could?"

She shook her head. "No... No I enjoy my current schedule." She looked over with a soft smile. "Thanks though."

"Aw any time." He clapped her on the shoulder with a grin.

"Hey you two." They both turned around to see Finn coming up the ladder. "Hey Rey, what're you doing up?"

"We were enjoying the birds before you came along." Poe said swatting at the man.

"Oh- well I guess you don't want to know that breakfast is ready for those who are up then. Sorry I just thought a man such as yourself would enjoy something to eat." He said with a roll of his eyes and a snort.

"Finn my man you should have started with the food." Poe hopped up and started for the ladder. "You already eat?" He asked as he passed Finn.

"Yep, came to take your watch."

"You are a good man." He gave him a wink before he disappeared down the ladder.

Finn looked back to Rey and smiled warmly. "You should go get something to eat too. Enjoy it while it's fresh and warm."

Rey hesitated a moment before nodding her head. "Yeah... That does sound nice actually. Thanks Finn." She smiled and leaned into him a moment before heading for the ladder as well. It would be nice to have something warm. Though by the afternoon she'd be wanting something cool. The days were warm and the nights were chilly, but both almost comfortably so in their own way.

As her feet hit the ground she found Poe waiting for her with a grin on his face. "What?"

"Did you see the way he was looking at you? I think he's smitten." Rey rolled her eyes, and quickly stuffed her hands into her pockets with a shake of her head.

"You're blind. It was you he was looking at." She said and started for the center of the camp. "Honestly Poe. For such a big flirt you are rather slow."

"No no, see it's because I'm a big flirt that I know, in fact, he was looking at you." He then stopped in his tracks, and frowned. "Did you hear that?"

"How could I hear anything over your voice?" She said, thinking he was still joking with her. But when she turned around and looked at him she realized that he was dead serious. "What's wrong?" She asked, straining to hear something wrong.

"The birds..." He glanced up and the last of the birds could just be seen flying away.

"Poe?" Finn could be heard calling and both of them turned back around and headed for the wall.

"What happened buddy?" Poe asked as he pulled himself up onto the wall.

"The birds- something spooked them." He said, eyes scanning the Forrest.

"Have any of the alarms gone-" just then the first one could be heard. "Kriff- Rey go tell the camp something's coming." He hissed as both he and Finn ducked down behind the small ledge, made just for a case like this.

"Think it's zombs?" Finn asked as Rey darted back towards the center of camp.

"If it is I hope it's the brainless ones. It's too damn early to deal with the smarties." He grumbled. He held a finger up to his lips as Finn was about to ask another question. "Wait- do you hear that?" He whispered. It was just audible, but there was the sound of... of someone talking. He frowned and poked his head around his cover and looked to see what he was hearing.

In the silence that fell between the two of them he could make out the sound of a gun with a silencer on it going off, followed by an almost desperate voice. Another wave of birds took off into the sky and brought Poe's attention to the southwest corner of their field. He pointed the way he thought they were coming and ducked back down.

"Sounds like it's just one person." Finn commented. "Are they running right for us?"

Poe nodded his head. "Sure seems like it."

By that time, Rey was back and had a couple other people with her. She scampered up the ladder, "what's going on?" She whispered.

"Some guy is out there causing a ruckus." Finn said with a shrug.

"Coming for us? Will we be able to help?"

Before anyone could reply the person in question broke through the tree line and saw the wall. "Hey!" He yelled, "Is anyone there?" Poe risked a glance and saw a rather tall man dragging a slightly shorter man along beside him. The shorter one with red hair seemed to still be shooting at the dwindling zombies behind them.

"Two guys, and about a half dozen zombies left. Feel like being helpful?"

"I saw you! Open up!"

"Well I mean, it would be rude not to at this point." Rey said and pulled her self up and started to help pick off the zombies following the two men.

Poe yelled down to the group to open up the doors, then was up next to Finn and Rey helping pick off the zombies. He felt pretty good until he realized that the trees seemed to be rustling again. "Oh you have got to be kidding me... Get your asses in here now!" He yelled and brought his gun back up to try and pluck off the new group that had joined them. Where they had picked off the six, there were now at least another dozen zombies.

"Poe I think we're going to need our defenses." Finn said as he shot another one down.

"We'll keep shooting until they get close enough to the wall to do something about." Poe gritted out.

"As soon as those two men are in, close those doors!" Rey yelled down to their people.

Poe watched as the two newcomers seemed to pick up speed as they saw the gate open, and he was a little amazed that the Red head was still firing his gun at the zombies behind them. From this distance he could see that he was hurt in a bad way, which only made it more real impressive.

"Gate's closed!" Came the cry from beneath them and Poe and Finn nodded their heads. They continued to pick off zombies that made it through their first line of defense, which were thick, sharp sticks that had been driven into the ground at an angle for zombies to impale themselves on.

"Bout a half dozen left again." Finn said.

"They're close enough to use the spears." Poe said and grabbed a long spear that was nearly three feet taller than he was. Finn and Rey did likewise and soon they were stabbing the dead that were pounding against the wall in the head until they'd killed the last of them.

"Well... That's certainly one way to start off the morning." Poe said with a grin as he started to clean off his spear. "Let's go say hi to-" screams and yelling pulled his attention down to the ground where he saw the taller one being held back as the redhead was being dragged away. "What the hell?" He slid down the ladder and pushed his way to his people.

"Don't you kriffing touch him!" The large man yelled as he tried to shake off the three men it was taking to hold him down. "Let go of me you idiots- He's not bit!"

"HEY!" Poe yelled making his people stop and look at him. "What the hell is going on?" He demanded.

"This ones bit!"

"If you'd look at it you'd know he wasn't!"

"Ren-" that came from the red head and he did not sound good.

"We need to deal with him before he turns Poe." The one who seemed to be the instigator in all of this, Jack if he recalled right, started to drag the red head off again. "I'm sorry young man but he's bit."

The taller one yelled again and another person went to help hold him back.

"Okay, okay hold on guys." Poe said and quickly jogged over to the red head. "Let's give it a look? Maybe he's right. After all he was the one running with him. And it won't kill us to check."

The man looked uneasy but he nodded his head. Poe watched him take the necessary precaution, making sure a gun was pointed at the mans head, which only seemed to piss of his friend even more. But Poe pushed the screaming away and squatted down in front of their bleeding guest. He looked up and saw a pair of blue eyes looking at him warily. "May I see?" He found himself asking, to which the man nodded his head slowly.

Poe smiled and pulled the torn fabric up and away from where the blood was seeping. He clicked his tongue as he couldn't see anything proper. He pulled his water bottle out and dumped some water on the wound and used his hand to try and clear away some of the blood. The man hissed at the contact and he made soothing noises before he was thinking. It didn't look good... He couldn't tell if it was a bite or a scratch... He sighed as he tried to decide the best course of action.

He looked back up into the others eyes and held them a moment. They seemed heavy with exhaustion and looked like he could use a few hours sleep. "Were you bit?" He asked so only the two of them could hear.

"...no."

He'd take it. He'd risk it. He had a feeling that his companion would kill them all if he didn't risk it. "Take him to the doctor-"

"You can't be serious?!"

"Take him to the good doctor and let her know he needs to be watched. Understood?" Jack seemed to hesitate. "I said, understood?"

"Aye... I understand."

"Good. Finn go with him to make sure our friend makes it safe and sound." Finn nodded his head and followed after the two of them.

Poe sighed and looked back to the other man. "Let him go guys. Honestly." The man was released and took a few steps getting into Poe's personal space. "Well hello to you too big guy." He gave him a pat. "If I'd known you were so interested in getting close to me I'd have told them to let you go sooner." He waved a hand at his people who had started at the sudden motion, letting them know it was alright. "Have you eaten yet?"

Shock came over the others face and he backed off a step. "I- no."

"Good, cause I'm starved and would hate to eat by myself. Come on." He turned around and lead the way to the center of camp. "I am sorry about all of that. We just dealt with one of our own getting bit... And it's made everyone be on edge about wounds."

"But he's not bit."

"Yeah, that's what the other persons family kept saying too." It had been a hard thing... The son had ended up turning and attacking his entire family. Five of their own gone in the course of one night. Everyone blamed themselves for not pushing on it more. "Our leader has pushed for stricter rules in that department now. Jack was just trying-"

"To get himself killed." Poe looked back at the man and saw a hardness to his eyes... And fear.

"He family to you?"

"In a sense of the word."

Silence fell between them as they finally got to the food tent and Poe ordered the. Both a bowel of porridge and a cup of coffee. He then lead them over to one of many picnic tables set up and sat them across from each other. "Not a five star breakfast, but it warms you up." He watched as the other poked at it a moment before finally taking a bite. "I'm Poe by the way."

"Ren." He said before he stuffed another bit into his mouth. Ren hadn't had something this good in a long while. They normally kept to rations or dried meats. Anything that would last a long time. Time and resources weren't wasted on making things taste nice.

"Nice to meet you Ren." Poe was amazed to see the way the man stuffed the porridge into his face, as if he was afraid it would somehow disappear. "You know, the foods not going anywhere." It didn't seem to slow him down any even as he grunted out an acknowledgment. He snorted softly and went back to his own food.

"You mentioned your leader. I assumed you were the leader." Ren finally stated after he had licked the bowl clean.

"Oh no, no I'm just the guy that makes sure people don't kill each other."

"Don't give yourself so little credit." Ren seemed to jump a little at the arrival of Rey. "Hello, names Rey." She offered her hand in greeting.

"Um, Ren." He took the offer and gave it a small shake.

"Pleasure." She looked to Poe. "Finn should be joining us here in a bit. He told Jack to go watch the wall."

Poe nodded his head in agreement. "Good, that'll help him not think of our guest."

"How is he?" Ren asked looking to Rey.

"Um- well the doctors with him right now, and was cleaning him up when I left to walk Jack to the wall."

"Give her some time Ren. If anyone can save your friend it'll be our Doctor."

"What were you two doing out there anyways?"

"We we're looking for food." He didn't think it would go over well to tell them they had been actively looking for a thinker. "We had been following tracks, that must have been older than what I'd thought, for we followed them right into the group you saw us running from."

"How'd he get hurt like that though?"

By trying to work with Ren to bring down a Thinker. It had been all alone, no other zombies to be seen. It had been the perfect opportunity, or so Ren had thought. Hux had tried to warn him that something didn't feel right, that they needed to wait or even turn around and hope to find another one. But he hadn't wanted to fail again... Didn't want Hux to pay the price for his failing again.

Maybe if he hadn't pushed to catch that one Hux wouldn't have been attacked, wouldn't have almost been killed by these people, wouldn't be fighting for his life at that very moment. He cleared his throat and blinked. "I stepped on a branch trying to back up and caught their attention. We ran, I fell he came back to get me up. He shoved one off that would have gotten me and it raked him in the side." He kept his voice emotionless, though it had always been his eyes that gave him away. There were bits of the truth in that. Enough that whatever Hux said it would be similar.

"That's rough." Poe said.

"I'm sorry." Rey said, feeling she'd pried a little too much into the event.

"Hey guys!" A more cheerful voice broke through their downcast mood as Finn sat next to Poe. "Hey man," he said looking at Ren. "You should know that the doc feels pretty good that it's just a scratch, and that has people calmed down." He gave him a smile. "And she feels pretty good about him pulling through." He decided to leave out the part where he had been worried about how much blood the red head had lost. "I'm Finn."

"Ren."

"Great meeting you. So where you from? Or has that already been asked?"

"No it hasn't." He took a sip of his coffee enjoying the way it burned over his tongue. He cupped the hot mug between his hands, the tingling at his skin making him feel more awake. "We're both from a camp about 32 kilometers away to the south."

"South? We had a small group of people come from that way and said it was awful down there." Rey said as she looked at him.

Ren shrugged. "It's not easy, but that's where we've set up camp."

"Any other survivors down there?" Finn asked.

"Besides the people in my camp, you lot are the first ones we've seen."

"Really? Where the hell are you hid so good no ones come and bothered you?" Poe asked amazed.

Ren shrugged. "Old army base."

"Army base? I thought that was more west?"

Ren looked to Finn wondering how he knew that. "That's the new one. We're in the one that was before that one. Were you former army?" He asked changing the subject.

"Yes I was. I was on leave when the shit hit the fan. I take it you're army then?" Kylo nodded his head, running his tongue along the inside of his teeth. "Forgive me, but you don't exactly sound like you're from around here."

He shook his head and took another swallow of his coffee. "I became a citizen over here, but in fact I was born and raised over in the states."

"Oh hey, our leaders from over there." Rey perked up.

"Really? How'd she end up over here?"

"Something about having family over here that she was looking for before everything fell into chaos. Poor lady... They're probably dead by now." Kylo's thoughts drifted to his own mother and father back in the states and wondered how they were doing... If they were even still alive. "Do you have family back in the states?"

He nodded his head. "But we hadn't been on speaking terms." He finished his coffee and stood up. "I'd like to see Hux now." He said, using a voice that left little room for questioning.

"Yeah, okay I can take you there buddy." Poe said finishing his own coffee. "I'll see you two later." He said with a grin before heading off with Ren

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always I own nothing but the idea and ocs nor do I claim to own them. 
> 
> Two chapters in one day? I was hit by a writing bug. Hope you enjoy!


	3. Chapter 3

A whole twenty four hours. Phasma checked the clock again and huffed. They'd been gone a whole twenty four hours. Something had gone wrong. Hux was never one to be late like this. She paced along the wall of the base as she looked out over the fields, willing their truck to appear around the corner. "Come on... Where are you two?" She finally shook her head and stormed down the stairs and towards the boss's house.

She gave a quick knock before entering. "Sir, I'd like to go out and look for Ren and Hux." She had never been one to dance around a topic. She saw no point in the waste of breath.

The man turned to her slowly and let out a small sigh. "Yes... I do believe that would be prudent." His fingers seemed to be fiddling with something small in his hands. "Yes indeed. Take someone with you, I trust your judgment Phasma." He waved his hand in dismissal. "Go and see what has happened to them."

"Sir." She inclined her head then was out the door. "Mitaka!" She called out as she passed by a small group of people enjoying their off time no doubt. A young face turned towards her and seeing the way she walked was quickly at her side.

"Yes ma'am?" He asked. "What're our orders?"

"We're going to find Hux and Ren. They haven't returned." He seemed to pale, as he realized that the two men were still gone. The shade he turned would have given Hux a run for his money, Phasma thought absently.

"Yes ma'am." He acknowledged, seeming to square his shoulders off as he understood the importance of the mission. "Thank you for taking me."

"Of course." They fell into a companionable silence as they hopped into Phasmas car and headed out of the base. "Here on this map they traced out their path they were taking last night. You guide me the way they went... And hopefully we'll find something."

Mitaka nodded his head and started to study the map. As they came to intersections he told her which way to go and jotted down any it's she told him in the map as they passed certain areas she thought might still hold supplies.

It took the better part of a half hour before they spotted the truck. "Where are we in their route?"

"Not even half way to their original destination."

She hummed and got out of the car, hearing Mitaka follow right behind her. "Something must have caught their attention..." She looked over the truck and couldn't see anything wrong with it right off hand. "Come on, let's put the pair of them off the road so no one gets any ideas of taking them. Then we'll continue the search on foot." Mitaka nodded his head and helped her hide their vehicles as best they could.

"Do you think there are other people out here ma'am?"

"You can never be too careful." She said instead of actually answering his question. He took it well enough though and she could almost see him filing the information away in the back of his mind. She could see why Hux liked him, trusted him.

It didn't take her long to find their trail and started to follow it as best she could. What had they been thinking doing this at night? Surely Snoke hadn't thought to do this... Then again he seemed really set on finding a thinker. That was a thought for another time. She had already started to form a list if why she didn't like the man and this only added to her reasons. Because whether it was his idea or not, she knew it was because of him they'd gone out here.

"Ma'am." She looked over to Mitaka who was huddled down by what looked like one of their bags. Hux's messenger bag if she wasn't mistaken. He picked it up and handed it over to her.

She looked around inside of it and noted that rations, water, and extra ammo were still in it, as well as a few personal items. Not a good sign. "Hold onto this Mitaka. Do not lose it." She said as she started to search around the tree he'd found it next to.

The young man nodded his head and slipped it on over his shoulder. "Think he could be near by?" He asked, his voice betraying the hope he was starting to feel.

"A possibility... But not likely." It almost hurt seeing the way his shoulders slumped forward at her words. "He would have eaten some of the rations already if he had." She explained. Everything he'd taken was still in the bag, including the three new unopened boxes of cigarettes. Twenty four hours alone with Ren? At least one of those boxes should have been opened if he'd been near his bag.

"So then... Something happened that made him have to leave it behind."

"That made both of the leave it behind. Ren wouldn't leave supplies behind like this either. So what ever it was they're likely still together." It was a thought that brought some comfort to her, and Mitaka as well. Together they had a higher chance of surviving. Together they had a higher chance of being found alive.

They continued to follow the clues they could until they came to a small clearing where they found Ren's bag... And what looked like the remnants of a trap. She cursed as she gathered up the things, half expecting to find their bodies. They must have stumbled across a thinker... And things had gone wrong.

"I'm not seeing any bodies." Mitaka said after they'd searched the surrounding area throughly. "Though I did find a dead zombie over there."

Phasma followed to where he pointed and looked over the zombie. It had a shot through the head and beside it she could see where something, or someone had flattened the grass. Her hand ran over the spot and found boots marks of where someone scrambled up, which lead to a second pair of boots that where mixed together with the first pair.

"I think... I think they're still alive." She said and started to follow the foot prints back towards the trees. "There was a scuffle... And one had to go back to help the other..." That would make sense from the information around the dead zombie. She paused as she saw a splash of dried blood. "One of them is hurt..." It didn't have that odd sheen to it the dead had to theirs.

"I'm not seeing bodies though... At least not theirs."

"No- no I think they're still alive." She paused as she lost sight of the boot prints she'd been following. She growled in frustration as she saw zombies had come through there some time after they had run and she couldn't make heads or tails what went where. She pulled out a piece of gum from her personal stash and popped it in her mouth, before pulling another out for Mitaka who took it thankfully.

"It's getting late... I'm not fond of the idea of staying out here with no protection." She straightened up and looked back at her companion. "I'll take your thoughts into consideration." She was giving him an opportunity to say they needed to head back to the car at the very least, if not back to base before nightfall.

"They're out here somewhere ma'am. Or they could be, and it doesn't feel right going back knowing that they could need our help." Yeah, she could really see why Hux enjoyed working with him.

She nodded her head in agreement. "Very good. We'll walk this way until the sun starts to set more, then we'll decide what to do for sleeping." More than likely they'd make some sort of makeshift hammock up in the branches away from the ground to sleep in for the evening. So far the zombies, no matter if they were thinkers or mindless, they had seen no signs that any of them had the skills necessary to climb trees.

Mitaka followed eagerly enough and was right on her heels, eyes scanning the area for any signs of attackers. This was the first time that she thought to bring him along with her on a rather private mission. Normally it was Hux who brought him along for any off base missions, something that Phasma was going to make sure didn't continue to happen in the future. So far he was proving to be the best choice, and not just because he was friendly with Hux.

As night finally neared Phasma was true to her word and stopped their search for the evening. She crawled up into the top branches of the trees, pleased that's Mitaka took up right after her and together they made a makeshift hammock for them to sleep in.

"Are you sure just the ones alright ma'am?" It was almost cute how nervous the young man was.

"For the last time Mitaka, yes. It will get cold tonight so not only will sleeping in the same space proved much needed heat, we can throw the other sleeping bag on top of us to hold the warmth in. I promise I will not bite." And that seemed to finally break down the wall of his hesitation and soon the pair of them were fast asleep, both trying to not think of their friends still out there. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always I own nothing but the idea and the ocs. Thank you so much for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Hux awoke to the feeling of nothingness, and he wondered briefly if he was dead. His body felt weightless and for the first time in a while, there wasn't a slight headache buzzing at the back of his skull. He opened his eyes slowly and quickly realized he was in fact still alive.

He groaned as the head ache almost immediately came back with the blindingly bright light coming in from outside. He closed his eyes and tried to rub at them to make the pain go away and go back to that moment when he'd just woken up. A hand on his shoulder though made him tense and jerk his eyes back open.

"Armitage?"

He frowned slightly at the use of his first name, though any remark he was going to make died on his tongue as Ren's face finally came into view. Ren's rather concerned looking face. No- that look wasn't something he'd ever give Hux. The last time he'd seen that look was almost seven months ago now... He cleared his throat and ran his tongue over his lips. "You look like shit." Well... That wasn't what he'd meant to come out of his mouth.

To his surprise it actually brought a smile to the others lips, and was that a chuckle he'd just heard? Maybe he had died. "Well forgive me, but I didn't get to sleep with the drugs they gave you."

Hux wrinkled his nose as he looked around, "drugs?" He winced as a sharp pain attacked his side and he hissed and brought a hand up to it, feeling the bandage beneath the blanket. He jumped only slightly as Kylo was suddenly there, concern on his face. Hux made to brush him off, but the entrance of someone else into the tent made his pulse quicken, his hands start to shake, and instead of brushing him off he instinctively grabbed his hand on the bed.

Kylo looked up to see what was happening, and immediately his entire demeanor changed and he took a more defensive stance above Hux as the man Jack stood in the doorway. Seeing Jack kickstarted Hux's memories and he suddenly remembered, albeit a little hazily, what had happened yesterday. The zombies attacking, him bleeding out, thinking he wasn't going to make it. Finding this place, the people thinking he was bit, Ren trying to kill them for touching him, Kylo yelling after him as they pulled him away- his grip tightened and he felt Kylo respond to it be shifting closer.

Jack cleared his throat. "I don't want any trouble." He started out saying.

"You brought trouble on your own head." Kylo growled.

"I was just trying to look out for my people-"

"You tried to murder him."

That made Jack pale a little and he visibly swallowed. "I- I came to say I was sorry... And that, that Poe was looking for you."

"Poe can come here if he needs to speak to me." Was all Kylo said. Hux wonder briefly if that would be enough to send the man packing. Jack took it as the dismissal it was and inclined his head before all but running out the door.

Hux remained silent a moment, waiting to see if the man would come back. Fearing he would come back with reinforcements, unconvinced that Hux wasn't bitten. Only once a few minutes had passed and he was certain that he was not coming back did he finally realize he still had a death grip on Kylo's hand and quickly let it go. He'd blame the drugs for the obvious break in character.

"How do you feel?" Ren said before Hux could say anything though.

"My side hurts anytime I move, but otherwise I feel the same." His thoughts returned to Jack and he wondered if Kylo was doubting the cause of his injury. The thought made his stomach flip and he looked up at Kylo, trying to decide if the man doubted whether he'd been bitten or not. After a moment he licked his lips and started "I swear that I am not-"

"No- no I know you weren't Hux."

Another silence fell between them. Hux took the moment to look at Ren, studying the way the other looked stressed. Even more so than he had back at the Base. His eyes were dark where it looked like he hadn't slept, his hair was falling into his face, and even now he seemed ready to pass out if given the chance. "You didn't let them kill me yesterday." He stated.

"Yes, I am aware of this."

"You know that would have been the perfect time to get me out of your hair for good."

For a moment Ren looked genuinely shocked at his statement, then it melted to one of confusion as he saw the slight smile in the corners of Hux's mouth. "Hux-"

"Thank you." Hux cut him off before he could saying anything else. "Though now I suppose I owe you one and will thus not be able to look out just for me in the foreseeable future." He said with over exasperation and a roll of his eyes. "Honestly Ren, I think you did it just so I would be in debt to you."

Kylo smirked and gave the man a shrug of his shoulders. "Well you know having a man like you owing me a favor isn't a bad idea. Especially when you know he's scheming trying to get your place in the group." It was the kind of interaction they had fallen back into after that incident seven months ago. Things had changed between them during those weeks... Things neither had been ready to deal with. But they couldn't go back to how things had been, they cared too much.

"Yes that will have to be put on hold." He sighed dramatically and shook his head. "Can't very well kill you now while i still owe you for saving my life."

"You two are the strangest people I have ever met." Poe's voice cut into their bantering and made both men snap their heads towards him. "And Ren, did you have to scare Jack that much? He was paler than a ghost when he came to tell me where you were hiding."

"You shouldn't have sent him to find me then."

"Noted. You hold grudges." He glanced at Hux and gave him a smile. "Names Poe." He offered his hand, which Hux took easily enough.

"Hux." He replied.

"Hmm Hux." The name sounded familiar... Why did it sound familiar? "I feel like I know that name- have we met before?"

Hux kept his face in his emotionless mask, even though the question sent his heart racing. This man couldn't possibly know- he couldn't know anything. He swallowed and tried to clear his mind. He'd never seen the man before, he'd remember if he had... But he knew the name Hux- maybe his father? "Not that I'm aware of. Though you may have heard about my father if you were apart of the military. He was a well known Admiral in the fleet."

"That's right!" He exclaimed it's a little snap of his fingers. The exclamation almost made Hux's heart calm down. "I remember now. Died while deployed right? So sorry for your loss."

"Hardly a loss." Hux muttered not wanting to talk about it. "It's been years anyways, and I'm hardly the only person to lose family members at this point."

"You had a point for visiting?" Ren cut in. He didn't know all the details concerning Hux's dad but he knew enough that the man hated talking about it.

"Right, right. I came to let you know that when You're feeling up to leaving Hux's side I was wondering if you'd like to go on a mission with me?" Kylo quirked a brow, obviously confused as to why the man would think such a thing. "You just look like someone's who's used to working and not sitting around-" worrying. "And it would help us resupply what's been used on your friend." He figured if he made it about paying them back in some way he'd be more inclined to help out and get out of the doctors hair.

Ren visibly gritted his teeth and Hux could feel him tense up beside him. Before he could think it through he moved his hand back to Kylo's and could feel him jump slightly before he relaxed a little. "Naturally we will make sure you are repaid in some fashion." He said, his training kicking in even with the pain he felt. "At the present though I-" he hesitated only a moment as he was about to set his pride to the side. "At the present I need Ren here." Ren had never been one to conceal his emotions well, and the shock that passed over his face was clear for all to see. "I believe that would be understandable with how I was first greeted." Hux added in a hushed tone.

Poe looked between the two of I them before nodding his head in agreement. The guy had a right to be worried, scared even that someone would come back and kill him for the safety of the others. Poe knew they wouldn't, but these two didn't know them, at least not yet. "Alright." He smiled warmly. "I'll have someone came by with some food and water. I bet you're both hungry after yesterday."

"Thank you." Hux said letting his grip on Ren go and let out a breath he'd been holding. "That would be apriciated." Poe nodded his head and left the two of them alone again.

"Feeling a little frightened are we?" Ren said as soon as the foot steps of the other couldn't be heard.

Hux rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue. "Maybe with you standing so close to me." He said and shook his head. "I can't imagine how I could be anything but with you breathing down my neck." He settled back into the bed, ready to go back to sleep.

"Oh? And here I thought you were enjoying my company." Ren settled back down in the chair he'd moved next to Hux's bed.

"Don't flatter yourself, I merely put up with your company Ren." He closed his eyes and started to try and even out his breathing. Maybe Ren would let him go back to sleep.

"Then you don't want me to stay here?"

"Do what you will Ren. You're a grown man that can make your own decisions." He hesitated before adding, "you simply seemed to not enjoy the idea of leaving with that man and so I decided I'd give you an out. If I was wrong in my assumption please by all means go and join him." There was a rustling sound then a weight added to his bed. Hux frowned and opened his eyes only to find Kylo had propped his feet up on the bed and was getting comfortable in the chair.

Hux looked at him a moment before gingerly pulling one of his pillows out from behind him, hissing slightly as he sunk further down before he tossed it at Ren, feeling rather pleased as it hit his face. Ren jumped slightly and glared at him as he pulled the pillow down.

"You're giving me a crick in my neck watching you try to sleep. It's not a bed but at least it can help." Was all he said before he closed his eyes again. He was rewarded with a swat from the pillow on his stomach which cause him to shoot Ren a glare that quickly melted away as he watched him resettle himself with the pillow propping his head. He snorted softly and went back to evening out his breathing.

Both men were sound asleep when Poe returned with the food. He shook his head and chuckled under his breath. He'd brought things that would last until they woke up and so decided to leave the tray of food next to the bed. They certainly were an interesting pair. He wondered again though, why were they out there? Where did they really come from? Were they really friendlies? He knew their leader would want answers to those questions when she got back from her supply run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing but the idea and the ocs, nor do I claim to own them. 
> 
> Thank you again for reading, I hope you enjoy!


	5. Chapter 5

"So where are we going?" Ren asked as he trudged alongside Poe. He had awoken to the doctor forcing him to leave, so she could tend to Hux with the space needed. He had wanted to stay until Hux had woken up- but he had not been given a choice this time. He would have worried about it, had the doctor not seemed... genuine in her desire to tend to the man.

"Just to a little town about an hours drive away."

"An hour?" He paused in his steps looking at the man with widened eyes. Thoughts of betrayal flitting through his mind. An hour with one of his own was one thing, but an hour with a stranger who was connected to a group that had already tried to separate and kill him and Hux before seemed like too long. "Is there no where closer to retrieve what you are looking for?"

"Nope, sorry buddy but an hour out is the closest thing. And we're just kinda hoping that there'll be meds there." He opened the door to the car and hopped in the drivers seat, trusting that Ren would follow.

Kylo hesitated at the door. He didn't like it, didn't like splitting up from Hux no matter how annoying the man could be. He'd thought things would be better, friendlier after what they'd gone through, and he supposed they were lighter with each other... But it wasn't what he'd been wanting. He wanted that moment where Hux had let him hold him, where he'd trusted that Kylo knew what he was doing... But he supposed he'd broken that trust with the death of the Knights...

At the end of the day, right now they were the only ally's they were assured of, and he'd already left him behind. He sighed and got in the car. Worse case scenario this would be a trap of sorts. He would deal with this Poe person, then come back and make them all pay for the betrayal as he came back for Hux. Snoke wouldn't be happy they'd not only failed but were gone longer than they'd said. He was not about to be the only one to bear the brunt of that punishment. That was his reasoning and he was sticking to it. That was the reasoning Hux would be comfortable with.

"Ah don't look so glum. It'll be fun, and we'll be back before you know it."

"I believe our definitions of fun are two different things Poe." He said as he watched the land beside them start to blur by. It was strange not being the one driving. How did Hux stand it sitting in this seat just... Sitting there and navigating?

"Well I mean I take any chance to get out of the camp and stretch the legs as it were. I was Air Force before this all happened, and it kills me not being able to fly anymore." He let one of his arms rest up against the window as the other gently held the steering wheel. He'd thought about it a lot the last twenty four hours or so about how to get Ren and Hux to warm up to them. They we obviously competent fighters and it never hurt to have a few more of those on their side. He'd decided maybe opening up would help kick things off.

Ren nodded his head absently. "I trained to be a pilot." He said off handedly.

"Only trained? Never flew?" Poe asked with a slightly quirked brow. Given the size of the man he found it hard to imagine him being left in the program very long.

"No- I tested the new modules that were coming out. Things you would have been seeing in the next couple of years." He didn't see the harm in talking about this, and maybe it would help the man relax and admit what he was planning.

"Ever see any action?" He didn't imagine a tester would ever work in the field, which left the question how he carried himself the way he did. He screamed fighter, and a fighter acquainted with close combat at that. It just didn't add up yet with the history.

"Yes. I got picked up for a special forces unit." That was how he had met Hux. The memory made a smile pull at his lips. From the very first moment he'd seen the man he had felt an overwhelming since of annoyance and a desire to strangle the life out of him.

"Special forces- what were you specializing in?"

The question brought Kylo back to the present danger with a snap. He couldn't tell the man, he'd know then- know what they'd done. "Hunting down people wanted by her majesty. Took the unit all over the world." The lie came easily enough, though he'd never quite mastered the art like Hux had.

"That how you met Hux?"

He nodded his head slowly. "Yes, we were a part of the same unit."

"You two always have the... Interesting relationship you have now?"

"If you're asking have we always been at each other's throats the way we are now, then the answer is... more or less."

Poe couldn't help the question that came next. "So you two have a rival relationship then?"

"What?"

"It just seemed, with the way you had acted, people thought you two were together." Poe glances over to see the reaction and doesn't really find an answer in it. It looked confused, with maybe a mixture of consideration, longing and... fear?

The question threw Kylo. That someone, anyone would think that he and Hux... Yeah they'd had a moment before but it hadn't been- or at least he hadn't thought of it like that... It wasn't as if he'd never considered it, but it was crazy. Even if he did want something like that, Hux had made it clear he didn't. No they had always had a competitive relationship with one another. Nothing else. They couldn't afford anything else. "No- Hux and I are not- we're not together in that sense."

"In that sense?" So far what Poe was hearing was the man was fair game. "So you two are just, good friends?"

He snorted at the thought of calling Hux a friend. It didn't fit the nature of their relationship. It seemed more than that, but a more they couldn't have? It hurt his head any time he tried to think about it. "Yes. We're comrades that work to make sure we survive."

So all Poe had to do was convince the pair of them to stay, or at the very least The Hux fellow. "You know what makes it easier to survive? A group."

"We have one, as I've mentioned."

"Yeah, at a base Finns never heard of." He gave him a look with quirked brow. He watched as Kylo tensed and snapped his eyes towards him. "It's okay if you two are alone. There's no danger from us knowing that."

"We're not-"

"We sent a search party out, with the directions you gave us to let them know where you two were. I bet you know what we didn't find."

He mentally cursed himself, he should never had given them any information, and he shouldn't have left with him either. "You checked to see if I was lying." He said bluntly.

"Yeah, some of them were checking for that. But the fact that you lied doesn't mean much to me. If anything it tells me you two have messed with some asses that have no doubt made you wary of trusting strangers."

"You have a point?" Kylo clipped.

"We want to offer you a spot here. With us as part of the family." He looked over. "Or I'm supposed to offer that after I see you in the field."

"Then why do so now?"

"Because I don't want you two to stay just because you're a good fighter. I want to offer you a place to call home because you two look like you've been through hell and back."

The offer simply didn't make sense to Ren. Why would he care about the shit he and Hux had gone through before? For all he knew they could be horrible at fighting and they'd be taking in dead weight. What was the point of offering help when he didn't know what he or Hux could give back to the group? He swallowed and ran his tongue over his lips.

"You don't have to decide now of course." Poe said taking his silence as unease. "You can see what it's like to work with us before you decide something like that. I know we have some trust to win back." He offered with an apologetic smile.

Kylo finally nodded his head. "Yes, it's... It's something I would need to discuss with Hux."

Poe nodded his head in understanding. For someone who claimed they weren't together, his thought sure did go back to him a lot. But then again who knew how long they've been surviving together. If they'd been together since before this all happened... It's been a year at least, maybe a year with no one else.

Despite Poe's insistence that they would get there and back sooner than Ren thought, the trip out there felt like hours and not just the one it took. Needless to say when he finally stepped out of the car he was thankful to stretch his legs. Poe pooped the trunk of the car and started to pull out two backpack, and extra ammo.

"Here, this should fit your gun." He said tossing an extra magazine to the man. "And take this too." He said handing over the backpack as well. "We're headed to the drugstore at the end of this street, and hit anything else that looks like promising. Sound good?"

Ren nodded his head as he slipped on higher backpack. "What are we looking for in particular?"

"Everything. We'll take any meds we find." Poe said with a shrug. "Though pain pills are always on the top."

Ren nodded his head understanding that Hux no doubt used quite a bit of their stock. They walked on in silence both men keeping an ear out for zombies, and scanning for anything that looked useful.

Kylo was impressed that his people hadn't come out this far yet. In fact it was bothering him that they hadn't thought of doing that yet. Even if their boss had a reason, it worried him the Hux hasn't thought it bring it up. Or... Maybe he had and he'd been shot down. He made note to ask the man later why they hadn't looked for supplies further out.

"So have you and Hux been together since this all happened?" Poe finally asked.

His seeming obsessions with Hux was starting to annoy him. "Yes." Was all he said hoping the man would drop it.

"You said you two met with the task force thing, did you lose your team?"

"What do you think?" Ren answered, knowing full well the man now thought it was just Hux and himself.

"Fair enough." He held up a hand for silence and it took everything Ren had not to snap that he wasn't the one wanting to talk. The hum of a few zombies could just be heard and never had Kylo been so thankful for the distraction.

He pulled ahead and didn't wait for Poe to give any orders. He took out his dagger and pushed away the hissing of Poe behind him. He stepped around the corner and made out that there were only three of them. It would be a little different without his normal partner, but nothing he couldn't handle. He let out a breath and slid the dagger into the back of the first ones head before it even noticed he was there.

It gurgled a moment then collapsed to the ground, the sound of it hitting the pavement alerting the other two. The closer one was who he focused on first. She staggered towards him, jaw a little unhinged and dangling at an odd angle. She attempted to lunge, and he side stepped and brought down the dagger in a smooth ark, the blade slicing through the head.

He was given no time to relish in the victory before the next one was on top of him forcing him to the ground. He cursed and twisted his way from underneath it, though almost froze when a shot buried itself into the ground next to his head. He heard a curse from Poe and he growled as he realized the man was now trying to help. He rolled to one side and dodged another lunge for his shoulder and brought his dagger back up and buried it into the head, letting it rest a moment before he yanked it free.

"You nearly shot me." He snarled.

"You went into that without any warning." Poe's voice was strained from trying not to yell at the man in front of him. "You're lucky I was able to get a shot off at all with the way you were in close proximity with those things."

"You should have just let me handle it."

"That last one almost had you." Poe said testily, shoving his gun into its holster. "You could very well be dead right now, and it would be up to me to tell your friend what happened."

That made him pause, if only to consider how Hux would react to something like that. No doubt he'd roll his eyes and say something along the lines of 'not really surprised. He did enjoy rushing into reckless situations.' He snorted softly and shook his head. "An easier task then you're making it out to be." He cleaned his dagger off and sheathed it before locating the store they had come for. "Come on let's get the meds we need." He was ready to be away from this man.

Poe watched his face showing his utter confusion. Those two- he couldn't decide if it was Ren who didn't care about Hux, Hux didn't care about Ren, or it was some equal dislike of each other. Though none of those theories added up with the two men he had seen two days ago. He shook his head and pushed the thoughts from his mind. Until they accepted to join the group, they weren't officially his problem and he didn't need to be trying to figure them out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always I own nothing but the idea and the ocs, nor do I claim to own them. All mistakes are my own.


End file.
